Hand tacking tool.



' No. 670,496. Patented Mar. 2s, 190|,

A. HEBERT.

4HAND TACKING TDUL.

(Application Med Oct. 20, 1900.)

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(N0 Model.)

ma mmqvs versus c@ fumo-uno. wsnmumN n c I iUNE-rn STATES PATENT Frio,

ARSENE HEBERT, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO TH VEUREKA SHOE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

HAND TACKlNG-'TOOL SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 670,496, dated March 26, 1901.

Application led October 20, 1900. Serial No. 33.686. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ARSENE HEBERT, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing in Manchester, in the county of Hillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hand Tacking-Tools, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to hand tacking-tools wherein tacks or nails are automatically fed one by one into the path of a driving instrument or plunger, so that they may be driven successively Without requiring any Work on the part of the operator other than that which is involved in striking a series of blows with the tool, and is herein shown as embodied in improvements in that class of hand magazine tack-hammers of which the tool shown and described in my application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 11,444, filed April 4:, 1900, is a representative. l

The object of my presentimprovement is to guard against every possible failure of theA tool to operate eifectively and accurately.

In the hand tacking-halnmer described in my aforesaid application an important feature is the so-called trip-lever, which au- .tomatically prevents a tack which has been fed to the nose of the hammer-head from becoming accidentally dislodged and returning into the tack-channel, Where it Would inevitably interfere with the proper feeding and driving of the neXt succeeding tack, and in practice the magazine-tool described in my aforesaid application has proved efficient and for lthe most part free from liability to interruptions in the regular course of feeding and driving tacks. When the tacking-tool aforesaid is clean and in good order, interruptions in its normal and regular course of operations are extremely rare, occurring only in cases where a Workman using the tool has not acquired tlie knack of handling it.

In connection with the use of tools such as described in my application aforesaid it has been observed that the blacklead coating, which is applied to almost all the tacks manufactured, is transferred to the movable tackstops in the nose of the hammer-head to such an extent that occasionally the trip-lever, which is extremely light and delicate, becomes clogged and fails to operate with the desired promptness. In order to properly perform its fuuction,this trip-lever must be capable of instantaneous operation. When the workman raises and brings down the tool in order to drive a tack, he reverses the movement of the tool suddenly and a tack lodged in the nose of the hammer-head is in danger of being jerked back into the tack-channel by this reversal of movement. The trip-lever, which is located above the head of the tack, is made so light and is hung so freely that the same reverse movement of the hammer Which tends to dislodge a tack from its place in the nose yof the hammer-head causes the trip-lever to fly out into the tack-channel before the tack has time to be jerked upward.

While for the most part and under the normal conditions of operation the tack-stop and trip-lever in my aforesaid application operate perfectly to accomplish the above result, yet there are occasions when through the inexperience of the workman or the clogging of the trip-lever the tool fails to operate as accurately as expected, and one object of my improvements, presently to be described, is

to provide against this occasionally-recurring keep the stream of tacks continuous is pre-- vented. Ialso provide means whereby the raceway for tacks may be readily adj usted to accommodate various sizes of tack-heads.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a View in side elevation of a hand tackingtool of the character indicated. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the upper portion of the magazine, showing my device for insuringthe constant flow of tacks. Fig. 3 isa vieW in crosssection of the lower portion of the reciprocat- IOO ing ham mer-head. Fig. l is a sectional View of the raceway leading to the feed mechanism. Fig. 5 is a cross-section of Fig. 4 at the line 5 5.

A full description of the principal working parts of the tool shown in the drawings is found in my application aforesaid, and for convenience of reference the drawings hereto annexed are marked with the same letters as are used in the drawings of my said application.

In Fig. 2 are shown one of the tack-receiving inclines e and one of the tack-gathering blades E,which receive the points ofthe tacks as they slide down the incline e. A tack tis shown in the position in which it lies afterit has been received by the gathering-blades, 0F which E is one. The sudden movements of the tool which throw tacks from the heap into the top of the hopper and onto the incline e tend also to jerk the tacks which have been lodged upon the gathering-blades E off into the heap again, and also are likely to throw back tacks which lie in the inclined raceway el and interrupt the regular tack-feed. In order to prevent this, I provide the device shown in Fig. 2. Ashoes is suspended over that portion of the gathering-blades E which leads directly to the taek-raceway e'. The shoe s' is pivoted at s3 and is integral with or connected to a eounterweight s2, which projects through an aperture s4 in the rear side of the Lack-hopper. The counterweight S2 suijciently over-balances the shoe s to keep the latter normally elevated from the gathering-blades E a sufiicient distance to permit the tackst to pass freely under the sole of the shoe s. By the movement ofthe tool the magazine is thrown violently upward and then checked in its movement. The counterweight s2 instantly assumes the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and consequently depresses the shoe si, confining the tack which has passed under it, and thus checks any tendency of the row of tacks in the raceway e to slide upward.

The movability of the shoe s' and the ample clearance which is thereby provided between its sole and the gathering-blades E makes sufficient allowance for variations in the thickness of tack-heads, and consequently any tack can pass under the shoe s. A stationary guard sufficient for uniformly-sized tack-heads will in practice prove inadequate, because if it is placed close enough to the gathering-blades to prevent dislodgment of the tacks having normal heads it will be too close to permit the entrance of an unusually thick-headed tack. The tacks passing down the raceway at e' slide behind a cover-plate S, between which and the raceway-blades e there must be sufficient space to accommodate the tack-heads, and yet not so much clearance as to allow the tacks to jump up from the cond ucting-iaceway blades. In 0rder to provide means for properly adjusting the cover-plate S over the raceway or for readjusting it in case of wear or a change in thickness of the tack-heads, I make the coverplate separate from the slide s, shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The tailpiece s ot the coverplate S is made with beveled edges and dovetails into the groove .55, cut in the top of ,the slide s, making therewith a close sliding` fit, A set-screw sT enables the machinist to fix the cover-plate S at anydesired point and to alter its adjustment when desired.

I have made an improvement also in the operating parts in the hammer-head of the tool. The liability of the trip-lever L (which in the tool described in my aforesaid application constitutes the tack-guard or backstop and guards against accidental retirementof a tack from the nose-stop K into the tack-channel g) to become slightly gummed and to fail in its delicate operation has been alluded to. In order to overcome this defect, which occasionally developed in the use of tools constructed as described in my application aforesaid, I provide a tack-guard actuator, consisting of a piece of suhcient weight to give the necessary impulse to the tack-guard L, and mount this actuator loosely in the hammer-head or in such position that its movement is communicated promptly to the tack-guard. This actuator may be connected to the tack-guard by mechanical articulations; but I believe the best mode oi' arranging it to be that one in which the actuator is so mounted as to give the tackguard a sharp impulse, as from a blow. An embodiment of this in vent-ien is shown in Figs. l and 3. The tack-guard L is shown in this case as a latch mounted in the slot 71:', cut for the purpose in the block which constitutes the stop K. The tack-guard L is pivoted loosely at 7a3 and is provided with a finger Z, whose end lies adjacent to the tack-channel and is susceptible of movement into the tackchannel above the head of the tack, which for the time being hangs in the nose-stop K, and with a projection Z, which is relatively short. The tack guard actuator M is a pivoted weight hung loosely at m3 in the upper part 71:2 of the stop-block K, provided with the heavy end m and a projection Im2. The projecting parts ZL and m2 on the tack-guard and actuator, respectively, lie in close proximity to eachother. The instant that the tool is moved upward in preparation for driving a tack the weighty end m of the actuator M acquires momentum. When the movement of the tool is reversed for the tack-driving descent, the momentum of the weight m carries the actuator M into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. This causes the projection m2 to strike against the projection Z2 and throws the inger Z into the position shown in dotted lilies in Fig. 3, thus effectually preventing a tack from jumping back out of the tack-stop K. Ordinarily the looselymounted tack-guard L will of its own momentum assume the dotted-line position when the motion of the tool is reversed7 as above de- IOO IIO

scribed; but if by any chance the tack-guard L fails to work in this manner of its own motion the actuator M strikes it and insures its proper operation. It is to be observed that any movement. of the tool which tends to throw a tack back from the tack-stop K also impels the tack-guard L and actuator M to move'as described and to prevent the dislodgment of the tack.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a hand tacking-tool of thev character indicated, the combination of a hammer-head, a tack-channel therein leading to the nose thereof, a tack-stop at the bottom of the tackchannel, a tackguard above the tack-stop hung adjacent to and susceptible of being moved across the tack-channel, and a tackguard actuator movably mounted in such relation to the tack-guard that by its motion iu response to a movement of the tool which tends to throw a tack back from the tack-stop it actuates the tack-guard to close thetackchannel.

2. In a hand tacking-tool of the character `indicated the combination of ahammer-head,

a tack-channel therein,atack-stopin the tackchannel, a tack-guard consisting of a latch provided with a tack-engaging nger adjacent to and movable into the tack-channel above the tack-stop, and a tack-guard actuator, comprising a movable Weight, so supported with relation to the tack-guard that movement of the said actuator, in response to a movement of the hammer which tends to throw a tack back from the tack-stop, is communicated to the tack-guard, and the tackguard finger thereby moved into the tackchannel.

3. In a hand tacking-tool of the character indicated the combination of a hammer-head, a tack-chan nel therein, a tack-stop at the bottom of the tack-channel, consisting of amovable stop-block, a tack-guard mounted in the tack-stop block and provided with a tack-engaging linger adjacent to and movable into the tack-channel above the tack-engaging point of the tack-stop, and a tack-guard actuator, comprising a movable weight, supported in the tack-stop block in such relationship to the tack-guard that movement of the said actuator, in response to movement of the hammer which tends to throw a tack back from the tack-stop, is communicated to the tackguard and the tack -guard finger thereby moved into the tack-channel.

4. In a hand tacking-tool of the character indicated the combination of a hammer-head, a tack-channel therein, a tack-stop at the bottom of the tack-channel, a tack-guard con-` sisting of a pivoted latch having a Iiuger adjacent to and movable into the tack-channel above the tack-stop and a projection in 0perative connection with a tack-guard actuator, and the tack-guard actuator, consisting of a pivoted lever, whereof one end is weighted and the other is in operative connection with the aforesaid projection on the tack-guard, the rack-guard and actuator being so proportioned and arranged that movement of the weighted end of the actuator in response to a movement of the hammer which tends to throw a tack back from the tack-stop is communicated to the tack-guard and the finger thereof moved into the tack-channel.

v 5. In a hand tacking-tool -of the character described,the combination of a hammer-head, a tack-channel therein, a tack-stop at the bottom of the tack-channel consisting of a pivoted stop-block, centrally slotted and provided with a tack-guard in the slot and pivoted to the stop-block, and with a tack-guard actuator in the said slot and pivoted to the stop-block, the tack-guard provided with a finger adjacent to and movable into the tackpassage and a projection in juxtaposition to the actuatormthe actuator consisting of a lever, juxtaposed to the tack-guard projection at one end and weighted at the other, all arranged in such manner that movement of the weighted end of the actuator in response to movement of Athe hammer which tends to throw a tack back from the tack-stop causes the tack-guard finger to move into the tackchannel.

6. lIn a hand tacking-tool of the character described the combination with a hammerhead, a tack-channel and a tack-stop, of a tack-guard L, having a finger Z and projection Z2 and pivot k3, and a tack-guard actuator M, having a weighted end m projection m2 and pivot m3 substantially as described.

7. In a hand tacking-tool of the character indicated, the combination ofahammer-head, a tack-channel therein leading to the nose thereof, a tack-stop at the bottom of the tackchannel, a tack-guard above the tack-stop, hung adjacent to and susceptible of movement across the tack-channel, and a tackguard actuator, separate from and movable against the tack-guard.

8. In a hand racking-tool of the character described, the combination of a tack-hopper, and raceway, and a tack-retaining shoe pivoted at the entrance of the raceway,and counterweighted so that the same movement of the.

raceway and gathering-blades, and a pivoted tack-retaining shoe suspended over the racelway'and provided with a counterweight, the

said shoe being normally lifted away from the gathering-blades by the counterweight, and so proportioned with relation to the counterweight that a movement of the tool which tends to jerk tacks out of the raceway also lifts the counterweight and depresses the shoe.

lO. In a hand tacking-tool of the character described, the combination of the tack-hopper D, raceway-blades E, shoe s pivoted at s3 and counterweight s2 all substantially as described.

IOO

IIO

ll. In a hand magazine backing-tool the combination of the hopper D, raceway e, coverp]ate S, slide S6, groove 55, and setserew .37, substantially as described.

12. In a hand taeking-11o01 of the character described, bhe Combination of a taok-hopper and meeway, and a tack-retaining shoe pivoted at the entrance of t-he raeeway, normally standing clear of the Lacks in the raeeway,

and Counterweighted so that the same movero ment; of the tool which tends to throw tacks ont of the raeeway depresses the shoe.

Signed by me at Manchester, New Hampshire, this 18th day of October, 1900.

ARSENE HEBERT. Witnesses:

FRANKLYN A. ANGIER, ARTHUR W. MORGAN. 

